Destiny and Fate
by Eve2
Summary: True sequel to IOTB. As Evelyn, Jack and Ryan narrow down Wesker's next target as Rockfort Island, Jade and Leon attempt to find Chris in NYC. Jade soon leaves Leon to find Chris as she heads for Rockfort to help Claire escape. What unfolds is the untold


Destiny and Fate  
  
by Eve  
  
Introduction: Finally, after long last, I've been able to pick up on It's Only The   
Beginning's true sequal again, Destiny and Fate. But, first I think that I should point out a  
disclaimer towards the stories. One could tell blatantly after reading IOTB that some of the  
information can be proven wrong outright. It makes sense. After all, IOTB was started in   
September of '98, before RE3 and CV (and CVX) were even close to hitting the shelves. Oddly,  
some of the aspects of IOTB have found their way into the actual RE universe, but in different  
ways. My prediction of Ada Wong and Wesker's resurrection proved to be true, and more strangely  
that one of the two had ended up with superpowers (my choice had been Ada at the time, but in  
actuality it has been Wesker). Their powers are eerily similar. As is the destruction of   
Raccoon City. I had written that it was mostly destroyed, and while not exactly on the same   
level as the destruction depicted at the end of RE3, it is similar. As is Leon's separation from  
Claire and Sherry at the end of RE2. Though, Sherry being taken into U.S. custody and then into  
Wesker's hands was unforseen by me. Yeah, the similarites are strange. For my own sake I have  
placed IOTB taking place sometime after the destruction of the underground lab (morning of  
September 30th) and the obliteration of Raccoon City (dawn of October 2nd). All incorrect   
information in IOTB will be discounted in this story, as I try to be as accurate as possible   
with my RE fiction. After reading up on CVX (and Wesker's Report, which should be taken with  
a grain of salt in certain aspects), I've been able to change around the original beginning to  
Destiny and Fate. Yes, this beginning and the original are almost identical to each other, but  
the timeline has been cleaned up and the information on Sherry and Leon are more accurate. Of  
course, any other plot holes are my own fault and I suggest you forget about them. After all,  
this is RE we're talking about. This series has enough plotholes to drive a mad truck with a  
raging Tyrant through. But, I digress. Just try to keep that in mind while reading this. It's  
plot will coincide with CV's and is sort of an alternate version. A "what the characters were  
doing when you didn't see them" sort of thing. Alfred and Steve weren't around Claire all the  
time, were they? No. So there you go. Now, with much explaination and disclaimers (I sort of   
know how S.D. Perry feels now...but with a better grasp on the plot) enjoy Destiny and Fate. And  
I hope that next time I write an RE fanfic, the introduction won't have to be so goddamn long.  
Vanessa "Eve/Jade/Fury/Vira" Cohen, 8/19/2001  
  
Chapter 1: A Close Encounter  
  
Jade Brant ran down the hall of the Radencroft Umbrella chemical plant as fast as she   
could. Her leg was bleeding badly from a gunshot wound and her head pounded from another   
gunshot she had recieved the day before. With her limp she ran as fast and as best she could   
down the hall. Looking back over her shoulder, Jade saw a feline in full running mode, chasing   
her in hot pursuit. She rounded a corner and slid on the waxy lenolium floors. The feline slid   
worse and crashed into a wall as it chased her. Jade glanced at it as she kept running but then   
looked back in front of her. The exit was not very far in front of her, glowing brightly. Using   
all her strength, Jade bolted towards the door, with the feline not far behind. Suddenly, the   
feline stopped and crouched as if ready to attack. It leaped into the air and slashed Jade in   
the back with its claws. She screamed out in pain as her back throbbed and she fell to the   
ground. Her pained screams continued as the feline began to rip her apart. Jade let out one   
last shrill, loud scream.  
  
"Nooooooooo!" Jade screamed as she jolted up in her bed.   
  
She panted heavily and looked around the darkened room she was in, her eyes needing to   
get used to the darkness. It had all been a nightmare. Jade was in her small apartment in New   
York City. Snow fell quietly outside, contrasted by strident sirens from police cars and   
honking from car horns. Jade stayed perfectly still, coated in a cold sweat, in her bed, almost   
as if she was afraid to move. A few seconds later, her muscles relaxed a little and she fell   
backwards on to her bed.  
  
The last three months had been a nightmare for her. A living one. Since the incident in   
Radencroft, Jade had decided to move to New York City for a while, keeping an eye on Umbrella's   
chemical plant there. The Radencroft incident had been covered up, making S.T.A.R.S the ones to  
blame for the destruction of the chemical plant, and sanitarium, not to mention releasing a   
dealdly virus that killed all the population of the town. Umbrella got away clean from that   
situation and ended up looking like the victim instead. All S.T.A.R.S. members were no where to  
be found. Jade had to resort to a job as a clerk at some nameless store part time to pay for  
her apartment. The rest of the time she spent as a private investigator, but had no business.  
With the extra time, she kept her eye on all activity from Umbrella in the city. The other four  
had taken slightly different paths than she had. Ryan found out that Wesker left Umbrella for  
another company and vowed to track him down and bring him to justice. Evelyn decided to find   
the real Umbrella headquarters and had been travelling all over the world on small leads to   
find it until she decided to accompany Ryan in his search for Wesker. Umbrella was being very   
secretive about their headquarters location. Jack decided to accompany Evelyn in case she needed   
any of his computer hacking skills to find leads. Finally, Leon had joined an underground   
anti-Umbrella organization. He had tracked down Claire only after he had refused a deal made to  
him by a "supposed" U.S. government employee. Jade hadn't heard of this, nor of Sherry's   
eventual disappearance from U.S. custody. After Leon had refused the government man's offer, he  
had tracked down Claire long enough to give her information on a possible plant in Europe, Paris  
to be exact, where Chris might've gone. The two parted ways again, and Leon disappeared back   
into his anti-Umbrella organization, whatever that was.  
  
Jade was the one stuck in one place. Immediately after moving in, she had regretted her   
decision. She was not good at waiting for Umbrella to make a move on of the largest cities in  
the world. They wouldn't be that stupid. At least in Jade's opinion. They wouldn't make a move  
until they were ready with whatever large plan they had. Her secret informer on the inside had  
told her they hadn't done anything new in the last two months. No new projects, no "accidental"  
virus outbreaks, no big events. Not a single thing for her to report and work with. Now she was  
just stuck in a normal job, but with a strange tenseness to it. She knew that Umbrella could  
come after them all at any time and the wait was driving her nuts. Clerking jobs were not her  
and neither was waiting. To her, this was like living in hell. She kept regretting what she   
did, it was not like her. Every day she wondered why she decided to do this. 'Maybe I just felt  
like I needed a break.' She thought at one point. At any rate, she could not take any more of  
this life. If only she was able to contact one of them. All these thoughts raced through Jade's  
mind as she stared at the ceiling of her apartment. She closed her eyes to try to get more   
sleep.  
  
When she opened her eyes, she felt two pains. One was her leg, bleeding all over her pant  
leg, looking like she had been shot there. The other was from her head. The same feeling she  
had felt when she was in Radencroft. She looked around the room she was now in. Jade's eyes   
widened in surprise as she realized she was back. Everything that had happened in the last   
three months had been a dream and she was still in the chemical plant in Radencroft. It was not   
over yet. In frustration, Jade slapped her hand on her forehead.  
  
"Goddamn, I can't believe this." Jade whispered to herself.  
  
"Believe it." A cold, emotionless voice said from behind her.  
  
Jade turned around to see Wesker again, gun pointed directly to her head. An evil smile   
formed on his face, his eyes still hidden under his sunglasses.  
  
"Third time's the charm." he said, still smiling evilly.  
  
"Yeah, right." Jade retorted as grabbed his gun hand with her left and twisted it   
backwards towards the floor. This made Wesker grunt in pain, as Jade grabbed the gun with her  
other hand and pointed it at him. As Wesker regained his composure, he stared at her coldly.   
Then he smiled evilly again.  
  
"What the hell are you smiling at? I'm about to shoot and kill you." Jade demanded.  
  
"You didn't think I'd have another gun, did you?" Wesker asked as a response while he  
pulled out another handgun. Once again Jade's eyes widened, and instead of trying to shoot him,  
Jade turned and ran in the other direction. Wesker followed, taking shots every few seconds,   
all of them missing Jade. She ran at full speed down the hall, searching for a room to duck  
into. Finding one on the left, Jade darted in. Wesker had seen this and began pounding on the   
door as Jade leaned against it.  
  
"Go away! Go away! Go away..." Jade repeated over and over as she closed her eyes.  
  
The pounding only got louder with her eyes closed. Finally, Jade opened them again and  
found herself back in her small apartment, the banging sound still very loud. Angrily, Jade   
wiped sweat from her forehead and looked around her room again.  
  
"I am so fucking tired of these nightmares. I hate these things so much." she whispered  
to herself.  
  
At this point Jade finally noticed that the pounding noise from her dream was real. It   
was coming from her front door. Jade's face went even more angry while she glanced at her alarm  
clock on the table next to her bed. 3:30 AM was glared back in an irridecent light. Throwing the  
covers back, Jade got out of her bed, grunting as she did so. Then she proceeded to her front  
door, angrily muttering about the time the whole way there. Jade took a look through the the   
eyehole to see who was there, but couldn't make out who it was because of the fuzziness of her  
sight and the darkness of the hallway.   
  
"Who the hell are you and what do you want at 3:30 in the morning?" Jade demanded   
angrily.  
  
"C'mon Jade let me in!" the voice behind the door pleaded.  
  
"How do you know who I am? What the hell do you want?" Jade demanded again.  
  
"Jade! It's me! Let me in!" the voice's pleading became more desperate.  
  
That pleading voice...Jade now knew who it was. There could only be one person it could  
be.  
  
"Leon, what do you want?" asked Jade, still angry.  
  
"Let me in, goddammit! I'm not kidding about this! I'll tell you what I'm doing here when  
you let me in." Leon's voice was now very desperate with an edge of anger in it.  
  
"Alright. Hang on a second." Jade finally relented and opened the door.  
  
Leon tumbled in, losing his balance from leaning on the now open door. The man was in a  
sorry state. His blue t-shirt had been ripped, his eye had turned black and blue, his lip was   
bleeding, and he was cut in several places. Not to mention his profuse sweating and panting  
from lack of breath. Jade looked over Leon in this terrible state and shook her head in   
disgust.  
  
"What have you been doing, man?" asked Jade when he got inside. She then turned to her   
left to turn on a light switch, but Leon grabbed her hand and pulled it away.  
  
"No lights." he managed to pant out.  
  
"Umm...okay...what is wrong with you?" Jade asked, taking her hand away from the light  
switch.  
  
"Umbrella...and the government...big conspriacy..." he said, still panting.  
  
"I already knew about the big conspiracy and Umbrella, but what's this about the   
government? Hmm?" questioned Jade, showing Leon to the living room so he could sit down. "I  
thought you were with Claire Redfield. What happened to her?"  
  
"Umbrella has been able to cover everything up because of the government. They're   
involved in this too," Leon said once he had sat down on Jade's sofa and caught his breath.  
  
"The government wants the bio-weapons Umbrella is making for bio-warfare, don't they?"  
asked Jade.  
  
"Yeah, so the president bombed Raccoon City, calling it a viral outbreak, but that got  
rid of all evidence that Umbrella was involved in it. Umbrella is selling some of their   
monsters to the government as long as the government keeps their secrets from the public. A  
government agent came to me with a deal to work for them and keep Umbrella's secrets. They  
said Sherry was useless or something, but that I was valuable," Leon explained.  
  
"Let me guess, you said 'no deal', right?"   
  
"Yes, and so they got some of their men to try and kill me, but I got away from them  
before they could do anything. I heard that Sherry's missing from U.S. Army custody. I don't   
know where she is or who's got her, but this is real bad. I've been trying to track you down  
since the government man came to me the second time. Claire's in danger, I gotta help her," he   
continued.  
  
"They were able to do something to you, that's for sure," Jade commented sarcastically,  
then she paused for a moment and said, "What kind of danger is Claire in?"  
  
"I sent her to the Paris facility a few days ago, thinking that she'd find her brother  
there, but I learned that he's not there and Umbrella's facicilty there is too heavily   
guarded for her to get out of. She's going to get trapped," explained Leon.  
  
"Geez, this is bad. Do you know where her brother is?" asked Jade.  
  
"Yeah, he should be somewhere in this city. Probably looking for Umbrella's secret   
underground facility here for a lead for the headquarters in Europe," he answered.   
  
"Hmm...what about the government men?"   
  
"That's a problem. They could be here any minute. They were following me," Leon replied.  
  
Then, as if on cue, there was a banging knock on Jade's door. The two looked at each   
other a tad frightened and then Jade motioned her head for Leon to go hide in her bedroom. He got   
up and went in the direction she dictated. Jade then ran to the door as the loud banging   
continued.  
  
"What's going on? Who's there? For God's sake it's 3:40 in the morning!" Jade tried her  
best to sound tired and angry.  
  
"Ma'am, we're from the FBI, and we're here for a Leon Kennedy," a man's voice came from  
the other side of the door.  
  
"Leon who? I've never heard of him." Jade replied quickly.  
  
"We have reason to believe he came into your apartment, ma'am. May we come in?" the voice  
asked.  
  
"No, you may not. It's almost 4 in the morning and you come, without a warrant, to search  
my apartment for someone I've never heard of. Go away. I want to get back to sleep. Good   
night." Jade said, waiting for the men to leave.  
  
Luckily for her, the men turned around and began walking down the hall. The sound of   
their feet fading quickly. Jade exhaled with relief as she collapsed against her door.  
  
"Okay Leon, you can come out now. They're gone." Jade yelled to the back of the   
apartment. There was no response. "Leon?"   
  
Jade walked into her bedroom and saw Leon on her computer, the light of the monitor   
lighting up the entire room in an articficial glow.  
  
"What are you doing?" Jade demanded.  
  
"I'm checking my e-mail," Leon replied.  
  
"Why?" Jade asked.  
  
"That's why," Leon answered as he pointed to the screen.  
  
"What?" Jade asked exasperated. She looked at the screen.  
  
On the monitor she saw the address of the person who had e-mailed him was from an   
Umbrella complex. It read as follows:  
  
Leon-  
  
I was captured by Umbrella and taken to their Rockfort island prison. Zombie outbreak.  
Need help to get out. Please get someone. Find Chris, ask him to help. If not, just get   
anyone. Umbrella's monitoring Chris. Warn him.  
  
-Claire  
  
Below Claire's name were the latitude and longitude for Rockfort Island and oddly, Chris'  
last location. Leon had been right, he was in New York City. Somewhere in the downtown area.  
  
"Rockfort Island...here..." Jade got up and brought out a large world map. The two looked  
over it for several minutes until Jade pointed out the very small island in the middle of an  
ocean, south of the equator. "There it is."  
  
"We have to find Chris," Leon replied.  
  
Chapter 2: In Search Of A Dangerous Man  
  
Two days earlier...  
  
Ryan Bennett quietly poked his head around the corner of a hallway, looking down it  
carefully. Next to him was Jack Crawford, Jade's former private investigator partner, and Evelyn  
Chase, Ryan's ex-cop partner. The three were searching for clues to the whereabouts of Albert  
Wesker. Ryan had made it his mission since the night he found his cousin dead, that he would  
find Wesker wherever he went and finally bring him to justice. He had almost killed Wesker the  
same night he had found his cousin's body, but Evelyn had just stopped him. Ryan was only half  
right when he said that if their police force was corrupted that all others would be too. He now  
believed that there must be some way to bring Wesker to justice and make him pay for the crimes  
he had committed. Since the Radencroft incident, Wesker left Umbrella Inc. for another company,  
unfortunately, Ryan did not know the name of this new company. His leads were drying up quickly  
and he had to resort to sneaking around Umbrella sales offices for any files on Wesker's   
departure from the company. He had to have been sneaky about it; Umbrella never let people quit.  
Especially someone with the kind of information that Wesker had. Upon Jack's suggestion, the   
three decided to check out Umbrella's Paris facility for any clues. Jack had said that since   
Wesker was not a part of Umbrella anymore, he'd be against them. This meant that they should   
find places that Wesker would target for attack. To Ryan, this was a long shot, something   
completely outrageous, but something inside him told him to follow Jack's plan. Maybe that his  
leads were drying up so badly that this was the only route left to take, or that he might   
actually believe what Jack was saying. After all, Jack used to be a private investigator.  
  
So there the three of them stood, sneaking around Umbrella's Paris facility, looking for  
clues. Ryan glanced around to see if any guards were around; nothing was there. The hall was  
empty, giving off an ominous feeling at the same time. Ryan looked back at Jack and Evelyn and  
signaled to them that it was all right to proceed. The two nodded and followed him into an   
unmarked office. The first thing the three did was check to see if any security cameras were   
around. Never could be too careful when Umbrella is involved. Strangely, there was not a single  
security camera in the room. They all sighed a sigh of relief in unison and began searching   
around.   
  
The office appeared to be a control room of sorts. Computers lined the walls, proped up  
on long metal desks. One wall was covered completely in television screens, portraying different  
locations of the facility. Another wall had a book case, completely covered in various files.   
As the three gazed upon the room they had snuck into, they all realized the same thing: they had  
struck gold. Surely, they would find something in this room seemingly filled to the brim with  
information of all kinds. The three took one look at each other, and then all headed to different  
parts of the room. Jack zoomed over to the computers, being the computer hacker that he was.   
Evelyn began checking through the security videos for anything of significance while Ryan began  
searching through the mountains of files on the book case.  
  
Jack began the typing clicking noises at top speed, almost like a backround noise as the  
other two began their search. First, he checked the recent files on experiments, nothing there.  
Then he checked recent employment files, still nothing. Finally, Jack's eyes saw something that  
he had never really thought of until that moment: Prisoner Files. The thought that Umbrella even  
had prisons disgusted him inside. No telling what kind of experiments they could be doing on   
those poor individuals who probably had done nothing wrong in the first place. They just got  
employed by the wrong company, and found out too much. While this thought of prisons disgusted  
Jack, he was not completely surprised. Umbrella was a sick, twisted company, and prisons just  
made their madness deepen further. Immediately, Jack opened the file in the computer and started  
reading what was inside.   
  
Nothing. That was all Evelyn could find; nothing. The security tapes had absolutely   
nothing of interest on them. Not even strange, bizarre experiments being recorded. All she had  
come across was what seemed like hours and hours of nothing. While fast forwarding through one  
tape, Evelyn pushed back her, now longer, blonde hair. Umbrella had destroyed her hometown, her  
parents had been taken out by the company, and she had not even realized it until a few months  
earlier. The Radencroft incident had changed her too. Now her life held a different purpose. Her  
mission was no longer just to protect and defend the innocent where she lived, to somehow   
prevent what happened to her parents happen to anyone else. Now it was to protect and save an   
entire race even. If no one stopped Umbrella, Evelyn figured they would somehow try to take   
over the world, having everyone under their employment, under their thumb forever. This thought   
Evelyn could not stand. She had to do something. Her quest was not only to avenge her parents'   
death, but to save an entire world almost. At least to Evelyn, she had felt that it was that   
important. These thought ran rampid in her mind as fast as the VCR was fast forwarding through   
the tapes. Nothing struck her interest until she saw a girl...a girl that looked between 18 and   
20 years old to her. Evelyn quickly pressed play to see what was going on.   
  
The girl, her dark colored hair (the security camera recorded in black and white) pulled   
back into a high ponytail, was running at top speed down a hallway, pursued by several Umbrella   
guards with large guns. The girl herself had a small handgun in her hand as she ran. Evelyn  
caught a glimpse at the vest the girl was wearing, the logo on it striking Evelyn as interesting.  
It had the words on it, 'Let me live.' The girl ran down the corridor, keeping her speed up,   
until she reached a bright light that nearly blinded the security camera. It was the light of  
a helicopter. By the way the girl had stopped, it reminded Evelyn of a deer being caught in the  
headlights of a car. The girl looked shocked even from behind. However, the guards nearby did   
not seem to notice and continued to run after her, almost like the girl had seen something they   
had not. Almost a split second after the girl had been caught up in the light of the helicopter,   
she turned around and ran as fast as she could around a corner, going right inbetween the two   
guards chasing her. A second after that, the security camera was destroyed by a barrage of   
gunfire that took out the two guards along with the camera. The screen went blank, replaced   
with white snow and static noise. Evelyn tilted her head to the side and looked at the tape,   
confused. Who was this girl in the tape? Why was Umbrella after her so badly? What could have   
warranted the use of a helicopter and armed guards in her pursuit? What had happened to her   
after the camera had been destroyed? For now, Evelyn had to leave these questions unanswered,   
as they did not aid her in her search for Wesker.  
  
A mountain of papers and files laid before Ryan. There were files upon files of   
Umbrella's doings. Ryan would take a lifetime to get through all these files. He eyed all of   
them at once, almost being overwhelmed at the sheer amount of them. Then he took a deep breath   
in and began to finger through the first file, one on some island called Sheena Island. The   
named struck Ryan as odd, but he threw the file to the side and continued paging through   
another one. The next one had something about a woman named Alexia Ashford. The more Ryan read   
through the file, the more puzzled he became. The file described Alexia as a child genius,   
capable of working for Umbrella at the age of only 10. It went on to tell how she was able to   
find a virus in the DNA of a queen ant, and that she would combine it with...the rest of the   
document had some liquid spilled on it. Ryan could not tell whether it said, "Mother virus" or   
"Veronica virus." Either way, he was puzzled by it. Ryan checked the date, it was several years   
ago, something that was irrelevant in his search, although, the place where it was dated caught   
his attention; Antarctic Base. Now Umbrella even had Antarctic bases? How far did this company   
go? Ryan shook his head with confusion. There were so many unanswered questions, but no time   
for answers at the moment. He picked up another file, this time with the heading, "Prisoner   
Report." Ryan's eyes ran down the list of people recently captured by Umbrella and came across   
a "Claire Redfield." Checking the date, he saw that she was appredended only 8 days ago. Across   
from her name said the words, "Being transferred to Rockfort Island Prison." Claire Redfield?   
Now why did that name seem familiar to Ryan? Of course! Leon had once mentioned he was looking   
for her after the Raccoon City incident. She had gone off looking for her brother, the missing   
S.T.A.R.S member. Rockfort Island Prison...the more Ryan thought about it, the more it bothered   
him. There was something telling him that of all the places for Wesker to attack, an island   
would be a good spot to start.  
  
Jack gazed upon name after name of people who had been captured and taken by Umbrella.  
He kept looking at name after name, his eyes passing past both the name of Steve Burnside and  
Claire Redfield. All the prisoners had been taken to one place, Rockfort Island. By typing in  
a few words, the computer screen brought up the location of Rockfort Island for Jack, and also  
a map of the entire facility. Jack looked and saw a military training facility, prison, palace,  
infirmary, airport, and what looked like a family residence. Pressing a single button, Jack  
printed out a copy of the map and the location of Rockfort Island and turned to his friends.  
  
"I think Rockfort Island is a good place to start."  
  
This sudden break in the silence that had lasted a good several minutes made both Ryan  
and Evelyn turn their heads towards his quickly. Jack returned the look and pointed to the  
computer screen with his right index finger.  
  
"This place is a prison for people that know too much in Umbrella and are potential  
for spilling it all to the public. The person Leon had been looking for in Radencroft, Claire  
Redfield, she's been taken there." Jack explained.  
  
"Yeah, I saw her name on this list I was just looking at. She was apprehended just a few  
days ago. Right here, in this very place," Ryan added.  
  
Evelyn squinted her eyes and turned her head back to the security tapes. What had been  
the date of when the girl had been chased by guards? Evelyn tried to remember, her face looking  
deep in thought. It had been 8 days before. This girl...was Claire. Ryan and Jack noticed how  
Evelyn had turned her attention away from them and to the tapes. Both men looked at each other  
puzzled and then looked back at her.  
  
"What is it, Chase?" Ryan asked.  
  
Evelyn looked back at them, studying their confused faces. "On these security tapes I saw  
this girl getting chased by Umbrella guards. Then suddenly, this giant helicopter blinded the  
camera momentarliy. The girl ran away, but the guards and the camera got shot by the helicopter.  
Umbrella wanted to get her badly. I think...the girl in the tape is Claire Redfield."   
  
"Hmm...so obviously her escape plan didn't work so well," Jack said.  
  
"I should say so."  
  
"I think this Rockfort Island prison is a good place to start looking for Wesker. He  
could target this place for an attack," Ryan commented.  
  
"Here's a question, Bennett...what is he going to attack the island with? We don't even  
know what equipment he has to attack with or the name of the company he's with now. What do   
they know about the virus? Of Umbrella's experiments? This is like going on a wild goose chase,  
y'know." Evelyn said as she shifted her weight to one foot, looking right at Ryan.  
  
"I know...but it's the only chance we have right now, right?" he replied.  
  
Evelyn sighed. "Agreed. So when do we leave to get there?"  
  
"Well..." Jack said, "No time like the present, right?"  
  
Ryan and Evelyn nodded their heads in agreement, the three quickly running out of the  
office, Jack holding the map and location of Rockfort Island in his hands.  
  
Chapter 3: Missing S.T.A.R.S  
  
A dark gray sky spanned as far as the eye could see hours after Leon had arrived  
at Jade's apartment. The sky threatened with snow, but nothing had fallen since earlier. A   
chill wind blew down the perpetually busy street, as horns and sires continued their blaring   
noise.  
  
Jade stood outside her apartment building, her signature leather jacket on, but this time  
adorned with a scarf around her neck and golves on her hands for warmth. Leon stood next to her,  
shivering, due to the fact he had nothing but the ripped blue t-shirt he had on the night   
before. Jade looked at him and shook her head, then began pulling him down the steps to the   
sidewalk.  
  
"What? What is it, Jade?" Leon asked, even his voice sounding cold.  
  
"We're gonna go find you a coat before we go looking for Chris," she replied, continuing  
to pull him down the street.  
  
"Hmm...how about one of those nice heavy, warm ones?" asked Leon.  
  
"Shut up, and let's go," was Jade answer as the two turned the corner.  
  
******  
  
An hour later, the two stood at the corner of a nameless street in Manhattan; Leon   
looking immensely happier because of the new winter coat Jade had purchased for him. Jade was   
clumsily putting her wallet back into her jacket. Once that task was done she turned back to   
Leon with an annoyed look.  
  
"You owe me money, Kennedy, remember that. After this is all over, I'm gonna ask you to   
pay me back," Jade announced.  
  
"With what money?" asked Leon.  
  
"I don't care where you get the money from, just as long as you get it," was Jade's   
annoyed reply.  
  
"Oh," Leon answered as he began walking down the busy Manhattan street, a spilt second  
later stumbling into a large black cop, who stared at Leon with furious eyes. Jade ran to  
catch up to Leon and the cop, as the cop continued to stare and Leon furiously.  
  
"Leon, can you try to watch where you're going?" Jade demanded when she had caught up to  
the two.  
  
"Sorry, Officer..." Leon inspected the small badge on the cop's chest pocket, it   
revealing in shining letters the name, Daniel Dollis. "Dollis."  
  
"Watch where you're going, man," Officer Dollis retorted, angrily.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," replied Leon, apologetically.  
  
Jade tilted her head to one side, as if in the thought, and then asked, "Say, your name  
is the same as the detective in-"  
  
"Yeah. I get that a lot," replied Officer Dollis, quickly.  
  
"Right. Okay, well, come on, Leon. We gotta go find Chris," Jade was once again off down  
the street, leaving Leon to catch up.  
  
"Would you stop doing that?!" shouted Leon from down the street, slightly miffed.  
  
Jade stopped and turned back to look at Leon. He stood there, arms crossed, looking at   
Jade annoyed. She walked back to him and looked him straight in the eye. The two stood looking  
at each other for a few silent seconds. Then Jade said, "Doing what, Leon?"  
  
"Leaving me behind, pulling me, pushing me, rushing me, making me get into trouble! All  
you do is run around impatiently, you never take your time! I can't keep up with your pace!"   
Leon exclaimed angrily.  
  
Jade smirked at him and simply answered, "If you can't keep up, then I'll find Chris   
myself. Jack didn't have a problem with my pace, and neither did Ryan. If you can't handle it,  
then go join them. I'm too set in the way I work to change it for some guy who I had to buy  
a coat for."  
  
"Look, Jade, it's really not that I don't like the way you work. It's really that getting  
left behind, abandoned if you will, brings back bad memories of Raccoon City...and Ada," Leon  
admitted, looking depressed as he said it.  
  
Jade's face softened considerably, her eyes looking more sypathetic, her voice taking  
a more soothing tone. "Leon, I'm sorry. I didn't really know that it bothered you that much.  
Even though it'll be a little hard for me, I'll try to not do that anymore, okay?"  
  
A nod was the reply from Leon, as he exhaled a deep breath. Jade's face turned to   
determined and she turned back towards the end of the street. "Come on, we have to find  
where Chris went. Do you have any idea where he could be? People that he'd go to that would  
give him information, places that he'd check out, anything?"  
  
There were a few moments of silence as Leon began to think of possibilities, Jade, too  
trying to think. Suddenly, Jade snapped her fingers and looked at Leon, her eyes bright with  
enthusiasm. "Darren!"  
  
"Huh?" was the confused Leon's reply.  
  
"My inside informer for Umbrella, Darren Crowe. Chris might've gone to him to get   
information for where the headquarters is," answered Jade, beginning to walk down the street.   
  
******  
  
In a small apartment in the Lower East side, sprawled out on a sofa, snoring loudly, was  
Darren Crowe. He wasn't a very large man, in fact, most towered over him in height which   
bothered him to no end. He was a low level scientist, working at Umbrella's Manhattan facility,  
as he had for the past 10 years. 5 years earlier he had found out that Umbrella's dealings were  
not nearly as clean as they had appeared to him, since then he had decided to sell information  
to a small handful of people who were intent on the destruction of Umbrella. His allegiance   
was neither to Umbrella nor the people he gave information to. All Darren was in for was the   
money. He knew Umbrella would never promote him, so what's making some extra money from selling  
their information on the side? He was careful and as long as no one found out it was him who  
was giving it out, he was safe.   
  
The television a few feet from his sofa was playing a football game on it loudly, not  
that Darren was paying any attention to it. His snoring was so loud, it almost was able to  
drown out the cheering fans, commentary, and whistles being heard from his television. Darren's  
face would always get people asking him if he knew he looked like Russel Crowe. This annoyed him  
to no extent. Of course he'd know. Out of all the people in the world to know, he should be the  
one who knew first. He continued his loud, deep sleep uninterupted until a banging came to his   
door. The sound resinated across the entire span of his apartment, yet Darren was still not   
stirred from his slumber. A second later, the door was broken open, the lock being blown open   
by someone's handgun, this finally Darren waking up to see Jade and Leon there. Jade's handgun   
was smoking, her face looking hardened, while Leon stood beside her, looking shocked.  
  
Darren scrambled to get up from his sofa, running towards the two at his door. He looked   
at the door, at Jade, the door, Jade, the door, Jade, until he just could not take it anymore,   
is head shaking violently. He looked at Jade furiously, and she stared back at him, a stone   
cold look in her eyes.  
  
"Brant, what the fuck do you think you're doing?! You just destroyed my door! That's   
breaking and entering! I could get you fucking arrested for this!" Darren yelled at Jade,   
making violent motions with his hands.  
  
Jade just stared back at him, staying completely calm, then her trademark smirk crossed  
her face. "It's not breaking and entering if I broke in as an attempt to save your life."  
  
"What?!" demanded Darren.  
  
"We knocked on your door for several minutes, you not answering. We could've thought you  
were in trouble, thus our only means to save you would be to break down your door to get in,"  
explained Jade, her smirk staying.  
  
Darren let out an loud, angry, defeated groan and collapsed onto his sofa, the two   
visitors still standing. While changing the channel on his television with the remote Darren  
asked, "What do you want, Brant? What could be so important that you just had to break down my  
door?"  
  
"We're looking for someone," Leon finally piped in.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Darren turned his head to inspect Leon.  
  
"Darren Crowe, this is Leon Kennedy, former RPD officer, a survivor of the Raccoon City   
incident. Leon, this is Darren, my inside informer to Umbrella, although anything he tells me  
is highly overpriced," Jade introduced the two, Leon extending his hand to shake Darren's.  
Darren stared at the hand oddly, Leon suddenly retracting it, nervous.  
  
"You escaped from that nightmare city?" asked Darren.  
  
"Yeah, I did. It wasn't easy, let me tell you. Y'know you look like-" replied Leon.  
  
Once again, Darren flipped channels, a music video coming up on the one he had just  
changed it to. "Yes, yes, I know," he quickly replied, annoyed. Then added, "Don't worry, I   
believe you. Didn't look like no cakewalk." Turning his head towards the direction of the   
door, Darren asked Jade, "You gonna pay for that?"  
  
"Later. First, we need information," ordered Jade.  
  
"It's gonna cost ya," Darren again changed the channels, this time ending up on Comedy  
Central playing an old Saturday Night Live rerun. He groaned as a response to it as Jade's face  
turning hard again.  
  
"Not this time, Darren. We need information, and I'm broke," replied Jade.  
  
"Too bad, because I don't give out information. I sell it. You don't have money, you  
don't get information," answered Darren, only half paying attnention as he continued his   
channel surfing.  
  
Jade looked at Darren, head crooked to one side. "Is that your final answer?"  
  
"Hell yeah. You ain't got the money, I ain't tell you nothin'," he replied.  
  
"Fine," Jade simply said. Then, in a flash, Jade took her handgun and aimed it at   
Darren's head, shocking both Leon and Darren in the process. "If you don't want to tell us what   
we need to know for free, I'm gonna pull the trigger. Believe me, I have not had a good past few  
months, my entire life falling apart in mere days. DON'T push me even further."  
  
"What the-" Darren started as he got up, but was immediately kicked back into his seat by  
Jade's right foot, her hands still aiming the handgun at his head.  
  
Leon walked over beside Darren and took a seat next to him, catching on to what Jade was  
trying to do, he sat there calmly, looking at him. "Don't push her, man. I've seen what she  
can do when she's angry. She's one impulsive woman. You push her too far, she gets angry, and  
when she gets angry, people get hurt. I can't control her either."  
  
Beads of sweat began running down Darren's face in panic. He looked right at the barrel,  
then at Jade's determined eyes. "Are you gonna tell us what we need to hear, or does your sofa  
become a new shade of red?" she asked him.  
  
As a form of surrender, Darren put his hands up, nervously saying, "All right, all right.  
I'll tell you anything you need to know, just don't shoot!"  
  
Jade kept her gun aimed at Darren's head an asked, "Anyone come to see you lately?"  
  
"Sure, several."  
  
"Chris Redfield ring a bell? He's a former S.T.A.R.S member, and is looking for the  
Umbrella Headquarters. He's kinda tall, with short brown hair. See him around lately?"  
  
"Yeah. Just a few days ago."  
  
"What'd he ask you for?"  
  
"If I knew where the Umbrella Headquarters is or if there was any information at the  
plant."  
  
"What'd you tell him?"  
  
"I told him I had no idea where the Headquarters is and that if he wanted the real   
information, he'd have to sneak into the plant."  
  
"Did he ask you anything else?"  
  
"He asked me for floor plans for all the floors of the plant, access codes, everything."  
  
"Did you give it to him?"  
  
"Yeah. He was doing the exact same thing you're doing, threatening me. He didn't have  
any money."  
  
"The files, maps, everything you gave him, we want a copy," demanded Jade.  
  
"Okay, but I'd usually charge-" Darren started, but was stopped by Jade's handgun, waving  
slowly in front of his face. "Nevermind. Just let me go get them."  
  
"Fine," replied Jade, taking the gun from Darren's head, letting him get up and walk into  
another room, to his computer. There were a few quiet seconds, only broken by clicking computer  
sounds and the sound of a printer.   
  
Soon Darren emerged from the room, carrying a whole pile of files in his hands. Jade  
motioned for him to give them to Leon, and he did so Leon being slightly overwhelmed by the  
sheer weight of the papers. Darren flopped back onto the sofa and picked up his remote,   
his voice sounding annoyed but defeated at the same time as he said, "All right. That's   
everything I gave him. He said he was going to break in the plant tonight, midnight, and that  
I shouldn't be there when he does."  
  
"Do you know where he's gonna be before then?"  
  
"I would check some of the downtown hotels if I were you. The Rimora. I saw a pack of  
matches with its name on it while he was here. Guy's got a smokin' habit, I think. That'd   
probably be where he's staying."  
  
Leon finally got up from his spot on Darren's sofa and walked next to Jade. Jade,   
herself, looked satisfied with the results of this endevour, putting her handgun back, and   
smiling. "Thanks, Darren. That was awfully nice of you to give us all this stuff for free. As a   
token of thanks, I'll send you the money to repair the door in a week. Remember, don't quit your   
day job. You're better as a scientist than a snitch. Later. C'mon, Leon, let's go."   
  
Jade started walking towards the door, Leon quickly following suit. Leon tried to close  
the door as best he could, but it ended up swinging open slightly, the two's footsteps quickly  
fading as they walked away. Darren grunted angrily, continuing to change channels, then looking  
at the broken door. He then proceed to scoff at it, still staring at it swinging gently back   
and forth. "That Brant is gonna get herself killed really soon."  
  
Chapter 4: Drop Off  
  
"Bennett, you've checked our equipment about five times already. Knock it off, okay?   
We've got everything," Evelyn called back to Ryan as their small boat lurched forward,  
making rapid progress toward Rockfort Island. It was already seen in the distance, silhouetted  
against the setting sun. Behind them, dark oppressing clouds threatened to pour down on them,  
but kept quiet for the moment. The large bright sun was quickly setting across the horizon,  
the brillance of yellows, oranges, purple and pink now fading into a dark rich blue color. But,  
Evelyn knew they were on course. After checking the map, she had realized that Rockfort was the   
only island in a five mile radius of itself. Perfect for Umbrella, of course.   
  
There was something forboding and incredibly sad about the island that all three could  
sense as they drew nearer to the shore. It was not all flat and even ground, one giant hill  
jutting upward towards the sky. And Evelyn was sure she could faintly make out the outline of a  
house on the top of it. The rest of the island sloped downward toward the shore, where the   
outlines of a few ships were. The plan was to sneak in undetected, if that was even possible,  
and try to find Wesker...if he was there. It was a big if, there were other places he could be,  
but this was as good a place to start as any. Even if they didn't find Wesker, they knew Claire  
was there and would probably be needing their help.   
  
For all purposes, Ryan had been elected leader of the expedition, and he took it all   
quite seriously. Before they had left, Ryan had made sure that the group had enough ammo, guns,   
and climbing equipment they'd need. And even went the extra mile to pack food and drink. Hey,   
hunting evil bastards and rescuing people is hard work. Ryan just thought it made sense to bring  
some food and drink with them. Of course, he had brought Evelyn's favorite shotgun, which she   
hadn't been able to put to good use for the longest time. And for himself, he settled for a good  
magnum, Desert Eagle, and one for Jack. To be even more prepared, he had given each of them a  
combat knife and holster to keep on them at all times and a small handgun for emergencies. After  
Radencroft, Ryan had become increasingly more set on the fact that it was better to be over  
prepared than not prepared at all. If you ran into a Tyrant with nothin' but a handgun, what  
good would that do you? Nothing. No good. And the more ammo you had against whatever abomination  
you were going to face, the better. Be prepared. Ryan took that saying to heart, and almost to  
extreme levels. Obviously, his compulsive habit of checking their equipment was beginning to   
bug Evelyn, who sat at the front of the boat, navigating it quickly to the island.  
  
Oh, sure, she couldn't see what Ryan was doing, keeping her eyes firmly set on the island  
itself, but she could hear him rustling around the duffle bag they had brought with them every  
five minutes. He would mumble, "I hope we remember to bring the..." and she would hear the   
rustling again. The process would repeat and repeat until Evelyn had had enough. For God's sake,  
you'd think Ryan would've been able to figure out that they had everything by now, right?  
  
Jack stayed to the back of the boat, quiet the entire trip. He couldn't help but wonder  
what Jade was up to in New York. And how strange it was that she had decided to go back. After  
all that time, she had decided to find her way home.   
  
Home...that was something Jack sorely missed. He had sent notification that he wouldn't   
be coming back to his apartment to his landlord soon after Radencroft. The landlord had been   
upset, asking what to do with all Jack's furniture. Jack told him to send it to a storage   
facility and that he would pay him everything that he needed. Grudgingly, the landlord had   
complied and Jack hadn't thought of his apartment since. He hadn't seen anything of his since   
before he left. All new clothes, all new everything. Every night was another night in a hotel.   
More money down the drain. If this whole Umbrella thing didn't end soon, he would be out of   
money. You gotta work for money and he hadn't really worked since Ada's case. Jack never   
questioned where the money Evelyn and Ryan had came from, and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to   
know. People do dire things in dire situations and the two seemed obsessively commited to their   
goal of Umbrella's destruction. It wasn't that he didn't care about bringing Umbrella down, far   
from it. It was just...he missed the comfortable familiarity of his bed, the inviting scent of   
his apartment. Somehow it had always smelled like vanilla. He missed being able to spend time   
just chilling out after work by watching television. Television...Jack couldn't remember the   
last time he was just able to sit down and watch some show. He couldn't remember the last time   
he had a good night's sleep either. All the nights on unfamiliar hotel beds were beginning to  
get to him. Night after night of lumpy, strange smelling, odd feeling hotel beds that never   
gave you good sleep. Not real sleep. Sleeping in a hotel bed was always like pretending to   
sleep. Sure, you might get some sleep, but it was never the same as it was at home. It never   
was as deep, or fullfilling. And every dream was drowned out by the noisy AC in the corner of   
the room, or vacant from your mind when you woke up. And every morning you would wake up more   
tired than the last.  
  
Yes, home was something that Jack pined for. A feeling of security, a feeling that the  
next morning you would wake up in the same place, and it would happen nearly everyday after   
that.  
  
Ah, but didn't Jarret not wake up in his apartment that one morning? Yeah, he was still  
at home, but he never woke up. Or never slept. Take your pick, Jack. How long has it been since  
you thought about ol' Jarret? A year? Two? The funeral? If Jade hadn't decided to come out to  
be your partner, she would never have been in this mess. Of course, if you had stayed in the   
city, you wouldn't have either. Jarret didn't deserve that. Never. But dwelling on the past   
isn't going to help you, is it? Oh, Jarret if you could see your friend now. Would you even   
believe the crazy things he's done? Or the crazy things he's going to do?  
  
"Look, Chase, I wanna make sure everything's here. It's better to-"  
  
"Be prepared. Yeah, I know. You've said that one about ten times too. Trust me, if you  
haven't realized that something's missing by now, then it isn't. So drop it," Evelyn   
interrupted. She wanted to stop Ryan's compulsive habit, which in turn knocked Jack from his   
train of thought. In fact, Jack almost felt like the train had derailed taking out 400   
commuters in the process.  
  
"Huh?" he asked.  
  
Evelyn let out a bitter chuckled before answering. "Try to pay attention a little more.  
I'm just assuring Bennett that he's got everything."  
  
"Okay, fine. I do. There's no use in arguing about it now," Ryan said, throwing his hands  
up in surrender.  
  
Jack now felt more grounded in the moment, and scolded himself silently for getting so  
lost in his own thoughts. "What's the plan?"  
  
"Ask Bennett," Evelyn replied. She then fell quiet, much to Jack's surprise.  
  
Ryan looked to Jack before pulling out the map of the island that Jack had printed out   
not long ago. "We're landing here-" He pointed his finger to the right edge of the island. "-And   
then we're gonna sneak towards the prison complex here-" Now his finger pointed at the part of  
the map neatly labled 'Prison.'"-After that, we can split up and each search a section of the  
island. I brought radios so we can keep in touch with each other. The moment any of us spot  
Wesker, we'll radio the others and prepare for a confrontation. He could be anywhere on the  
island, but it's important to not engage in a confrontation with him until everyone's there.  
If he's nowhere to be found, we'll head back to the shore. Now, keeping mind that when we first  
get to the prison area, we're looking for Claire Redfield. She'll definitely need our help. We  
get her out, and send her to the boat. Then continue the search. If the search turns up nothing,  
head to plan B."  
  
"Plan B?"  
  
"Uhm..." Ryan laughed nervously for a moment before continuing. "The go to the beach and  
get the hell outta here plan."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"I don't think we'll be running into any of Umbrella's wooonderful creatures this time,  
but it's-"  
  
Jack nodded knowing what Ryan was going to say and finishing it for him. "Better to be  
prepared."  
  
Ryan snorted and almost laughed again. He smirked, albeit a strained one, asking, "Am I  
really that predictable these days?"  
  
Jack nodded again. "Yeah, but don't worry. I think this thing's getting to everyone now."  
  
"Right, right...anyway...I don't think we'll run into our friends the zombies this time,  
but you never know. Let's try not to kill any guards unless we have to, okay? Keeping unseen is  
the best course of action this time. Chase, that means no shotgun blasts unless it's absolutely,  
positively necessary! Got it?"  
  
From the front of the boat, Evelyn waved her hand in response.  
  
"Okay. I think that's everything. Oh! And Crawford-"  
  
This time, Jack laughed a little. Lightening up a bit, he smiled and said, "You can call  
me Jack."  
  
"Sorry. I'm so used to calling you Crawford, Evelyn as Chase and Jade as Brant I keep   
forgetting that we can be on a first name basis now. My bad."  
  
Finally there was a noise from the front of the boat as Evelyn quietly added, "Speak for  
yourself, Bennett."  
  
"Whatever, Chase." Ryan got back to his task, taking out a bag of Lays potato chips, a  
bag of Doritos, and a bag of popcorn. "Jack, which do you want? Potato chips, Doritos or some  
popcorn?"  
  
There was the sound of someone smacking themselves in the forehead from the front of the  
boat. Evelyn obviously found Ryan's question ridiculous. Jack couldn't help but laugh. He knew  
what Jade would say to a question like that: "Yeah, sure. And I bet you packed some Juicy Juice,  
Kool-Aid and Welch's Grape Juice boxes in there too, right?" There was something about the whole  
thing that made Jack laugh. The sheer insanity of it. They're going on a mission to rescue   
someone from an evil company and to bring an insidious murderer to justice and Ryan is asking  
him what snack food he wants to bring. Comedy of the situation was not lost on Jack. No, sir.  
  
While still laughing, Jack pointed to the Doritos. "I'll take the Doritios."  
  
Ryan smiled. "Good, 'cause I wanted the popcorn. Hey, Evelyn!"  
  
"Chase!"  
  
"Whatever. You got the potato chips!"  
  
"Fine, fine. Lemme know when you bring out the juice and tell me it's time for a nap,"  
Evelyn sharply retorted, not bothering to look back at him. She could hear him laughing though,  
which made her feel better for some reason. It was comforting to know that even after   
everything, they could still laugh. She could hear Jack laughing too. And soon she joined in as  
well. Yeah, it was insane. The entire goddamn situation was insane. But, at least they could   
laugh at it. There was always that you could take comfort in.  
  
Jack stuffed his bag of Doritos in his own bag and smiled. "Sounds like something Jade  
might say."  
  
Relaxing for a moment, Ryan leaned back in the boat, noting the soothing sound of the   
waves as they lapped against the sides of the boat. If it were better circumstances, the noise  
of the water would've put Ryan to sleep. He had always loved listening to the ocean. But not  
this time. Relaxing momentarily was all he could afford. "You haven't heard anything from Brant,  
er, Jade, since we parted with her, have you?"  
  
Jack shook his head. "No. Never gave her my cell phone number. She's got no way to   
contact me. Probably should've given it to her when we left, but can't be helped now. I know she   
was going to drive to New York City and get her old place back."  
  
"Old place?" Ryan rose an eyebrow in interest. He'd lived in the city for a few years   
while he and Evelyn were partners on the NYPD. He never knew Jade had lived there too.  
  
"Yeah. She used to have an old apartment there while she was a cop."  
  
Ryan's mouth dropped open and his eyes turned wide. "No way! She was an NYPD cop? I   
can't believe we never saw each other!"  
  
Jack shrugged a little. "It wasn't for very long. She was still a rookie when she   
resigned."  
  
"Why'd she leave?"  
  
Jack frowned deeply, not in the mood to divulge the gruesome death of one of his best   
friends. Luckily, from the front of the boat, Evelyn waved several times frantically, making a  
shhing sound at them. The two quieted down and turned their gaze to her. Evelyn killed the   
boat's motor as the two realized that they were now approaching the island. "We're here," she  
whispered.   
  
Chapter 5: Final Departure  
  
Dawn hadn't even peeked over the horizon as Jade made a final check through everything she  
had with her. Knowing that zombies were there gave her some gauge at how much ammo she would   
need. Weaponry was another matter. Since Sleepy Hollow, Jade had becoming nearly inseperable   
with the Glock 22 that she'd gotten from Wayne Bouquet, and kept it as a grim reminder of Kyle.  
But, knowing Umbrella, zombies wouldn't be the only thing shuffling about the island, and a   
Glock 22 wouldn't be sufficent for everything. It would be hell lugging all of this around, but  
in the end, she didn't want to be gutted by something just because she didn't want to carry some  
extra weapons. Amazingly enough (and to Leon's surprise), Jade had obtained a Western Custom  
M37 shotgun and a pair of uzis.   
  
When he asked her how she had gotten such heavy weaponry, she shrugged and told him there   
wasn't enough time to explain. He hated that she barely explained anything to him, repeating   
the eternal pattern he had with women; they never listened to him. It annoyed Leon, sometimes a  
great deal. But, at this point, there wasn't much he could do about it.  
  
Jade had driven the two of them out to a non-commercial airfield in Westchester, a county  
a little to the north of New York City. Half explaining on the way, she had said that he could  
take her car when she'd left and to find Chris. As for her, Jade was heading on a plane to   
Rockfort Island. Leon's impression that Jade had an impulsive streak in her was only confirmed  
with this action. From the radical tactic to get information out of Darren, to her dashing from  
place to place, to her spur of the moment plan of flying off to the island. All of it pointed  
to an impulsive streak in Jade. One that Leon could not identify with. So, during the entire   
drive to the airfield, Leon cajoled, argued, and debated with Jade to turn around and not go.  
  
She wasn't listening.  
  
There was a loud clunking sound as Jade hefted the duffle bag with her supplies and ammo  
into the plane. Another similar sound accompanied it as she slammed the passenger door closed.  
Leon, who was leaning against the side of Jade's car, watched as she mentally went through   
everything in her head. She had made enough time to change for this outing, knowing that the  
island was south of the equator. Tight pants, jet black boots, and a black t-shirt. Of course,  
since it was still December, the chilling wind and white snow on the ground as bitter reminders,  
she had on her jacket, gloves and scarf. Leon guessed she'd just throw it all in the back when  
she'd left.   
  
That was, if he couldn't convince her otherwise. It was time for one last try.  
  
"Jade, this is stupid. You could just as well wait until we've seen Chris and go with him.  
This just doesn't make any sense."  
  
Jade stopped and turned, staring at Leon with an expression he'd never seen on her. It was  
a mixture of so many different emotions, and the circles under her eyes from lack of sleep   
adding to it. She looked tired. More so than the kind that comes from not sleeping. It was the  
kind of tired that goes down to your soul. Tired of the life you're in, tired of the same thing  
over and over. Maybe...tired of running away. It was a pained look. One that told a story in a  
language that Leon could not entirely understand. Yes, it was evident that Jade had done   
something those three months he hadn't seen her. Something that seemed to add years to her very  
soul, and pain to her existence. And yet...there was a sadness in her eyes. A sadness that came  
from somewhere, or sometime, that Leon didn't know. With this haunting expression, Jade answered  
in a voice chisled with determination. "Claire needs help now. Chris might not even be at the  
hotel right now. If he wasn't, we'd either have to wait until he came back, or find him at   
midnight at the plant. Claire sure as hell isn't gonna wait that long for someone to help her.  
That's precious time lost. If she needs help now, then she's gonna get it. It makes perfect   
sense to me."  
  
"But earlier you wouldn't even open the door for me. Like you've done a 180 from not   
wanting to help to heading in face first into the fight. I don't get it."  
  
"Look at it this way," Jade started. Before continuing, she took a deep breath, her voice  
becoming softer for a moment. "I've been trying to run away from this since we all split up in  
Radencroft. I've been running away from everything, thinking that this whole Umbrella life isn't  
supposed to be the one for me. I should be a PI with Jack out west, not some stupid clerk half  
the time and a lousy PI the other half in New York City. I've ran away from people, places,  
responsibilities. Like, if I shut my eyes to all this horror, it's not there. But, guess what?  
It's been following me the whole time, sucking me into situations that I didn't want to be in.  
Made me learn something; I can't escape it. Wherever I go, Umbrella's gonna be there and they're  
gonna be doing the same horror, or even making it worse unless someone does something about it."  
Suddenly, her voice changed, becoming harder and full of determination again. "I've been   
running. And I'm tired of it. No more running. If my...fate, I guess you could say, is to fight  
Umbrella, then, dammit, I'm gonna do it. Heading into it guns blazing is better than constantly  
running away from it. I'm not a coward. Never have been, never will be. If this is what I'm   
meant to do, then I'm gonna do it. And there's no time like the present."  
  
Leon stared at Jade for a moment, processing all that she had said. Goddamn, he never knew  
she felt that way. Yeah, it had seemed like she had been trying to avoid this a little at first,  
but she soon started to head into everything as quickly as possible. Leon decided that whatever  
had happened to Jade, it was enough to make her doubt a lot about herself. Talking her out of  
leaving seemed pointless now; she'd never listen. It was like she'd made this some holy crusade  
of hers. A damn crusade for shit's sake. Leave it to Jade to be dramatic about this. She   
probably would've been an actress instead of a PI if given the chance. There was something about  
her that was definitely drama queen about her. Sure, this was very important. Leon knew what  
was at risk here. Claire was a friend and her life was in danger. That was serious. But Jade was  
also acting like being her savior was a sort of holy quest for her. A form of redemption. The  
dramatics weren't necessary here. She was leaving to help Claire. That was all there was to it.  
Save the personal mission statement for later.  
  
"Okay, I get it. I'm not gonna talk you out of this."  
  
"Nope."  
  
She ran around to the pilot's side of the plane, opening the door and climbing in all in  
one fluid motion. Leon followed. "But, could you've spared me the dramatic speech?"  
  
Jade frowned down at him. "Shove it, Kennedy. You asked, I explained. You don't like it,  
too bad. Maybe sometime there'll be something that means the same thing to you. Don't get on me  
because I have certain convictions," she snapped.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. But, you sure did go on at length about it."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just find Chris and send him on over. And, remember, he's  
under observation from Umbrella. Could be a bit dangerous."  
  
Leon saluted slightly, nodding his head in reply. "I will. I'll get him to go as soon as  
I can."  
  
"Good. Guess I'd better be going then...dammit, shoulda asked Darren for a map of the   
place. Oh well...I'll fly around until I see a runway to land on," Jade said, mostly to herself.  
  
This sparked a question that Leon hadn't remembered to ask before. It wasn't the biggest  
deal in the world, just one of those little things that bugged you until you remembered to say  
them. "When'd you learn to fly anyway?"  
  
Jade smirked slightly. "When I was a teenager. Took lessons. My parents wanted me to do  
something other than just school. Some sorta extra activity and they said it could be anything  
I want. I chose flying a plane. Don't ask me why; I'm just weird like that."  
  
No kidding.  
  
Leon laughed a little, shaking his head at the same time. "Yeah, you are."  
  
"Well, time's a wastin' so I'd best be goin' now." Jade slammed the door of the plane,  
taking her seat in the cockpit. She turned to yell something to Leon one last time. "If I don't  
make it, send in the army!"  
  
"We can't trust the army!"  
  
"Oh yeah...well...then send in the Justice League America! They're not crooked!"  
  
The engines of the plane roared to life, wind and heat from them swirling around the small  
vehicle. Leon stepped back, retreating to the safety of Jade's red Jaguar as the plane slowly  
began to move down the runway. First slowly it shambled down the path, picking up a little   
speed with each second. Soon it was racing at a speed that looked impossible for such a vehicle.  
It then lifted itself from the ground, a tiny miracle in itself and shot into the early morning  
sky. The plane flew quickly, its shape becoming smaller in the distance until it was nothing  
but a speck of light.  
  
As Leon turned to get into Jade's car, he saw the first hint of dawn rise above the   
horizon. The faintest amount of orange light reached for the sky, trying to pull itself into the  
air.  
  
Silently, Leon wished Jade luck on her journey.  
  



End file.
